Did someone say this is "serious literature"? Are we reading the same book? Tedious literature is more like it, with cardboard characters and a formula plot. I had to force myself to finish it just so I could post this review. If you trailed here from Dorothy Dunnett's page, turn back, turn back! 'Tis a deadend.

This is one of my all-time favorite books! I am Scottish and haven't been able to travel to my ancestral home, yet. But, with this book, I felt transported there. I love to learn a little history while reading fiction. And what a beautiful love story! A great read, recommended for all ages.

Well written and researched. THe characters are so believable. Ms. Donald has captured the Scottish culture. Her love of the Celtic shines through. I look forward to reading another book set in the Highlands.

This book, billed as "historical fiction," is closer to pornography-poorly written pornography at that. Much of the "evidence" used to make the author's case is, indeed, fictional. For instance, the photograph on page 178, said to be the last photo from Bessie Hyde's camera, is actually one taken two weeks earlier at Phantom Ranch by an onlooker. The significance heaped upon it, then, is imaginary. The lurid details of the Hydes' sex lives, brutality, and crudity, are pure fiction and based not on history, but on the author's twisted fantasies. Fiction, yes. Historical, no. Don't buy this.